South Florida Business Journal by Brian Bandell, Senior Reporter
UnitedHealth Group announced separate deals to acquire Miami-based Preferred Care Partners and Coral Gables-based Medica HealthCare Plans.
The deal will give Minnesota-based UnitedHeath (NYSE: UNH) about 85,000 more Medicare Advantage and 12,200 more Medicaid HMO members across Florida, plus eight primary care centers in South Florida. The companies did not announce the financial terms of the deals.
According to Florida data, UnitedHealth’s HMO had 26,853 Medicare Advantage enrollees statewide as of Sept. 30. The acquisition would push that to nearly 112,000 and give UnitedHealth ownership of the second-largest Medicare HMO in Florida.
The largest Medicare Advantage HMO plan in Florida is Humana, with 254,957 members. Humana also has 68,669 members in its CarePlus affiliate.
Looking at federal data on Medicare Advantage enrollment in both HMO and other plans in Florida, UnitedHealthcare had 234,000 members before the deal while Humana had 394,000 members.
On the Medicaid HMO side, UnitedHealth had 118,337 Florida members on Sept. 30, making it the third-largest plan in the state. The acquisition would not be enough for it to immediately catch leaders WellCare/HealthEase and AmeriGroup Florida. However, the Florida Legislature passed a bill in 2011 that calls for most Medicaid enrollees to join an HMO in the coming years.
UnitedHealth spokesman Matthew A. Burns said the two HMOs in the deals would remain separate from UnitedHealth’s HMO during 2012, with no changes expected for their members. Integration plans will be developed over the long term. He noted that Florida regulators must approve the deals.
More deals for Medicare and Medicaid plans in Florida will likely follow this, said Minneapolis-based HMO analyst Allan Baumgarten, who published an annual report on Florida HMOs. The big Medicare and Medicaid plans have strong opportunities for profitable growth but many of the smaller ones are struggling, he added.
These two acquisitions would make UnitedHealthcare a more formidable opponent for Humana in Florida, he said.
“Preferred Care has been moderately profitable and has had strong enrollment growth,” Baumgarten said. “Medica has been slightly profitable, but has had good enrollment growth.”
Privately owned Preferred Care Partners has about 50,000 Medicare HMO members, 5,000 Medicaid HMO members and six health clinics. According to state data, it earned $2.6 million on premiums of $435.6 million in the first nine months of 2011.
Most of Preferred Care Partners’ members are in Miami-Dade County, but it also has members in Broward, Marion, Sumter, Lake, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Manatee counties. It has six primary care centers in Miami-Dade.
“Partnering with UnitedHealthcare will enhance our ability to serve our members,” Preferred Care founder and CEO Joseph Caruncho said in a news release. “Combining UnitedHealthcare’s resources, innovation and technology with our company’s local market strength, experience and physician relationships will create a powerful organization dedicated to helping Medicare beneficiaries live healthier, more secure lives.”
Preferred Care Partners said it was advised in the transaction by Wells Fargo Securities and Ferrer Freeman & Co., which is also a significant investor in the company.
Medica has about 35,000 Medicare Advantage members, 7,200 Medicaid HMO members and two medical centers. All of its enrollees are in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The private company owns two HMOs - one for Medicare and one for Medicaid.
In the first nine months of 2011, Medica’s Medicare HMO earned $5.5 million on premiums of $429.9 million, and its Medicaid HMO lost $386,324 on premiums of $21.2 million, according to state data.
“Preferred Care and Medica each combine a strong record of providing quality, affordable health care coverage to Floridians with solid relationships with physicians and other health care providers,” UnitedHealthcare CEO Gail Boudreaux said in a news release. “Joining these strengths with UnitedHealthcare’s record of practical health innovation will bring greater health care access and value to Floridians and the health care community that serves them.”
